Here is a tentative schedule for the 2014 Bee School. If youve been thinking about what a fun and interesting hobby or business enterprise beekeeping might be, come join us and find out first-hand. Neuse Regional Beekeepers’ Association Beginners’ Beekeeping Course 2014 Text: First Lessons in Beekeeping, by Keith S. Delaplane Each Saturday in February 8:30-12:00 Noon. March 1st and 15th. Lenoir county Cooperative Extension Service Office 1791 NC 11/55, Kinston NC Tuition $45.00. Registration at the door, 8:00 AM Feb 1st. Laboratory each session with live bees, weather permitting. February 1st 8:30 AM Introduction to Beekeeping About this classroom Course overview/the “big picture” Introduction to Neuse Regional & NC State Beekeepers’ Associations • Integrated beekeeping education • Mentors • Workshops Resource list (web, bibliography, organizations, equipment suppliers, listservs) Basic equipment (smoker, hive tool, protective equipment, etc.) Basic hive parts (bottom boards, hive body, supers, frames, inner cover, lid) Making the decision to be a beekeeper: Time, cost, bee stings, when to order bees February 8th Equipment and Assembly Review of recommended hive parts (bottom boards, hive body, supers, frames, inner cover, outer cover) • Other equipment (queen excluders, feeders, hive straps, moving frame, staples) • Plans for making own hive bodies and supers • Frame assembly demo Reading required for this session: Supplier catalogs, Handouts: February 15th Starting a New Hive • Site considerations: location, neighbors, ordinances • Getting your own: package bees, nucs, swarms, buying an existing colony or split • Installing a nuc • Installing packaged bees • Feeding & caring for the bees (more to be covered in Hive Management) • Sources Reading required for this session: February 22nd Biology and Life Cycle of the Honey Bee • Biology of the honey bee • Individual caste life cycles, duties • Hive life cycle (intro to what bees do in each season) • Communication: pheromones, dancing • Brief intro to races • Colony Collapse Disorder Reading required for this session: Text, pp 1 – 25 March 1st Colony Management • Late winter/early spring • Honey flow build-up; post honey flow • Honey plants: nectar and pollen sources • Summer management • Fall and winter management Reading required for this session: TBA March 6,7,8 NCSBA Spring Meeting Wilmington NC March 15th Diseases, Pests & Common Threats • Diseases: AFB, EFB, chalkbrood, sacbrood and nosema • Pests: varroa mites, tracheal mites, SHB • IPM strategies: resistant breeds, screened bottom boards, proper maintenance, checking population, proper use of pesticides, mechanical controls • Extraction and processing (time available) • Marketing products from the hive (time available) Reading required for this session: TBA Additional workshops and demonstrations will be scheduled throughout the Spring and Summer, working with bees at the NRB apiary and with individual mentors.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 05:16:46 +0000
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